LETDOWN: Redlands High School defeats Poly boys’ water polo in the CIF quarterfinal game.
By Kayla Iles, Staff Writer
Poly’s varsity boys’ water polo team had an abrupt end to its season when it was knocked out of CIF with a final score of 7-5. The boys played Redlands High School, a team they lost to in a nonleague game earlier in the season. Jakeob Pluimer (12) expressed that the team “played a pretty good game.” However, the only thing he would have changed was the shot selection in the fourth quarter. Although the boys had the upper hand over the Terriers by halftime, their efforts came up short. “It’s a real bummer that we had to lose to a beatable team so early into the playoffs,” Pluimer said. This loss was especially disappointing for the Bears, since they worked together defensively and offensively with high hopes of continuing to the next round.
Even though the boys didn’t make it as far as they had hoped, they still took the League Champion title. “We really played well as a team which is something we had been struggling with all year long, and we picked it up at the end of the season,” Co-Captain Jonah Saenz (12) stated.
In order to have a successful season next year, the boys plan to “continue to get stronger and get faster in the pool,” Michael Swieca (10) said. Hopefully in the upcoming year, the boys will make it to CIF Finals and bring home a win.